Smart grid presents many benefits, fewer worries about cost

The U.S. currently has plans to install a nationwide smart grid network that will take nearly 20 years to complete and cost as much as $476 billion. However, EPRI states that the benefits related to this system could be worth as much as $2 trillion.

Among the benefits experienced with the smart grid technologies are lower power transmission costs, enhanced reliability and increased grid security.

In order to fund the project, residential, industrial and commercial consumers will be required to pay a modest raise on their monthly utility bill, ranging between a $9 and $1,266 increase per month. However, “these costs are modest when compared to the benefits the smart grid will yield," the institute relayed in a recent report. “The challenge for all of those in the electricity sector will be communicating that the smart grid is indeed a good investment."

With smart grid technology in place, consumers and businesses have the ability to better regulate their energy usage, and, as a result, control their costs.